Thoughts from the interface of science, religion, law and culture

After spending several years touring the country as a stand up comedian, Ed Brayton tired of explaining his jokes to small groups of dazed illiterates and turned to writing as the most common outlet for the voices in his head. He has appeared on the Rachel Maddow Show and the Thom Hartmann Show, and is almost certain that he is the only person ever to make fun of Chuck Norris on C-SPAN.

Religion & Politics

Science blogs

EVENTS

Paul Waldman has an interesting article in which he argues that President Obama will be the last Democratic presidential nominee not to fully embrace marriage equality. First, he recounts Obama’s hesitant and politically convenient positions on the issue:[Read more…]

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On my radio show, my co-host Don Reese and I have talked a few times in recent weeks about just how bad Mitt Romney has turned out to be at campaigning, with some surprise. Speaking of all the gaffes, Don wondered where Mitt’s handlers are as he commits gaffe after gaffe. But as we’ve found out with the etch-a-sketch comment, his handlers are turning out to be just as bad.[Read more…]

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The Illinois legislature has been considering a bill that would allow citizens to record the police doing their jobs (with audio — it’s already legal to record video, but you can’t record the audio too). And Republicans in the state House have killed the bill.[Read more…]

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There’s an amusing but annoying phenomenon whenever a blogger or journalist gets a reputation for reporting on certain issues. If one comes up and they don’t comment on it, their critics say “A ha! You didn’t cover story X, and that means (fill in the blank).” Balko is getting it right now for not writing about the Trayvon Martin case yet.[Read more…]

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If Gordon Klingenschmitt didn’t exist, I might have to invent him. He’s just such a perfect source of wingnut crazy that I don’t know what I’d do without him. Here he is claiming that gay people want to raise taxes on straight people to pay for their deviant “lifestyle.”[Read more…]

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Robert Knight, formerly one of the men who ran Concerned Women for America and now with the American Civil Rights Union — the religious right sure does love their alternate versions of the ACLU — says that defending voting rights in America is treason.[Read more…]

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The National Organization Against Equality for Marriage demonstrates the hypocrisy of nearly all right-wing groups when it comes to protests, launching a boycott of Starbuck’s while condemning all pro-equality boycotts as horrible and “intolerable.”[Read more…]

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Rob Boston of Americans United for Separation of Church and State writes about a new book by a public elementary school principal from Virginia who has written a book about how public schools are designed to destroy America’s Christian heritage.[Read more…]

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Robert Stacy McCain, already well known as both a racist and a misogynist, reveals his obvious fascist tendencies by advocating that the NYPD open fire on Occupy protesters at Zucotti park. There doesn’t seem to be any police actions bloodthirsty enough for him:[Read more…]

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Wingnut pastor John Hagee says that God is preparing to kill more than 100 million Americans in the “end times” — one person for each abortion that took place in this country. And you better believe he’s gonna do it because, you know, Noah’s Ark and all.[Read more…]

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You really have to hand it to Newt Gingrich. His ability to deal with cognitive dissonance by wrapping himself in a cocoon of irrationality and remain utterly oblivious to his own contradictions is world class. Now he’s claiming that Santorum’s loss in Illinois proves that he can’t win.[Read more…]

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Chris Hayes did a long segment about atheism and the Reason Rally on his show Sunday, with several guests including Susan Jacoby, Jamie Kilstein, my pal Jamila Bey (and her awesome hair!), and Steven Pinker. Video below the fold.[Read more…]

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The absolutely maniacal Linda Harvey has a delightfully warped column at the Worldnutdaily that stands reality directly on its head and argues that criticizing anti-gay bigots for trying to deny equal rights to gay people is just like what the Nazis did to the Jews. Seriously.[Read more…]

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There are bizarre theories and then there’s the kind of nonsense spewed by wingnuts like Sandy Rios. The former head of Concerned Women for America and Fox News contributor is now a radio host for the American Family Association and she seems to be trying to out-crazy even Bryan Fischer:[Read more…]

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Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association (and son of the founder of that organization), took his dystopic delusions out for a stroll on his radio show recently, saying that in a second term Obama would make it illegal to criticize homosexuality.[Read more…]